Carspotting 2013

For years now, I’ve photographed old cars when I’ve encountered them. For the past couple years, I’ve shared the ones I’ve found with you here (see my 2011 and 2012 lists). But now I look for old cars still serving as transportation, because I write about them for Curbside Classic, a blog about these cars and their stories. So this year I have a bumper crop of old cars to share with you. Buckle in, it’s going to be a long ride.

1975 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Regency. The Meijer where I shop for groceries is fertile ground for old cars. I wrote about this car for Curbside Classic here.

1988 Toyota Camry DX. I was in Terre Haute to visit an old friend, but first stopped at the Saratoga Restaurant for a little lunch. This Camry was parked outside. These aren’t exactly rare, but because the Camry was the first non-American car I ever drove I wrote about it for Curbside Classic.

1951 Chevrolet truck. I spotted a bunch of great old cars on my Route 66 trip this year. This one was in Carlinville, Illinois. (I wrote about the Route 66 trip for Curbside Classic here.)

1964 Ford F100. This truck was for sale somewhere in Missouri on Route 66.

1965 Oldsmobile F-85. This fake cop car advertised a store selling homemade candies and jerky in Galena, Kansas on Route 66. We stopped and bought some of both and nibbled at it for the entire rest of the trip.

1951 International Harvester tow truck. This tow truck was the inspiration for the Tow Mater character in Pixar’s Cars franchise. Also in Galena, Kansas.

1987 Renault Alliance. I found a gob of old Alliances on Route 66 in Quapaw, Oklahoma. This one is from 1987. I wrote about them all at Curbside Classic here.

1983 Renault Alliance MT. In the Alliance boneyard in Quapaw, I found this first-year Motor Trend Car of the Year edition. I had one of these back in the day. It had terrible acceleration, but was very comfortable. Read about it here.

1970 Ford Mustang. I forget where in Oklahoma on Route 66 that we found this convertible, but it was in front of a restaurant where we stopped for dinner.

1960 Studebaker Lark. Another find along Route 66 in Oklahoma. I wrote about it for Curbside Classic here.

1957 Chevrolet wagon. We used a spiral-bound turn-by-turn guide to follow Route 66, and it was written by a fellow named Jerry McClanahan. He lives just off Route 66 in Chandler, Oklahoma. In his book, on the Chandler page, he invites travelers to call him to schedule a visit to his art gallery. So we called, and we visited – and I photographed his car.

1963-66 Siam Di Tella Argenta. I found several old cars on a visit to Chicago. I found this car-based truck in an architectural salvage store. It turns out to be an Argentine vehicle that somehow found its way to the United States. I told the Argenta’s story at Curbside Classic here.

1965 Datsun Fairlady. This little Japanese roadster was in a courtyard at the architectural salvage store. More details here on Curbside Classic.

1961 Land-Rover Series IIa. This safarimobile was parked in front of the architectural salvage joint. Curbside Classic writeup here.

1971 Mustang Grande. This, too, was parked in front of the architectural salvage store. And I wrote about it for Curbside Classic, too, here.

1985 Pontiac Parisienne. Back home in Indianapolis, I went coffee-table shopping and found this pristine Pontiac sedan in front of Value City Furniture. Read about it on Curbside Classic here.

1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera Brougham. I met my brother for dinner in South Broad Ripple and found this showroom-fresh Cutlass parked outside. The Ciera (and its twin, the Buick Century) was made for nearly two decades and are quite plentiful – but early ones like this are becoming harder to find. Curbside Classic writeup here.

1974 BMW 3.0 CS. Like I said when I wrote about it at Curbside Classic, I think these are the most beautiful Bimmers ever. I found it in Fountain Square, a hip Indianapolis neighborhood.

1978 Mercedes-Benz 300 SD Turbodiesel. I found this parked in front of a Goodwill store on the Northwestside of Indianapolis. Details here at Curbside Classic.

1979 AMC Jeep CJ7. This was in my mechanic’s lot, for sale. He’s up in Home Place, which is near Carmel. Curbside Classic writeup here.

1969 Volkswagen Westfalia Camper. I drove by this every day on my way to work this summer. More about it on Curbside Classic here.

1988 Toyota Pickup. This truck is parked on the street behind my church. Nice to see it still doing its duty.

1963 Ford Fairlane. I found this one evening while in South Bend. Curbside Classic writeup here.

1979 Ford Fairmont. This Fairmont was parked in a Target parking lot in South Bend. When I wrote about it on Curbside Classic, it became by far the most-commented post I ever wrote there.

1977 Ford Bronco. My State Road 45 excursion this summer ended in Bloomington, where I found this final-year original Bronco in a parking lot.

1970 Volvo 164. I came upon this old Volvo on a lunch break on Indianapolis’s far Northwestside. More details about it can be found here on Curbside Classic.

1988 Toyota Corolla FX. Another find at my nearby Meijer store, I met the 90-year-old lady who owns and drives this car. It has 35,000 miles on it. More information about it here at Curbside Classic.

1988 Buick Century. Yet another Meijer find, this Broughamified Century is in a particularly unappealing color scheme. Read about it here on Curbside Classic.

1985 Dodge Omni. It seems like Dodge painted 80% of its Omnis this blue. But this one looks brand new. I found it in a shopping-center parking lot in the Traders Point area in northwest Indianapolis.

1985 Honda Accord. Another Meijer find. I guess everybody needs to go to the store sometime, regardless of what they drive.

1971-85 Land-Rover Series III. I’d never seen a Land-Rover in person before this year, and now I’ve seen two. This one shuttles guests around Traders Point Creamery, a small dairy farm in northwest Indianapolis.

1976 Cadillac Sedan DeVille Yet another Meijer find. I don’t recall seeing many Caddies in this color back in the day, so it’s good this one survived.

Recognize many of the Indy backgrounds (though it’s been years since I visited and will be years before I visit some of them again… Mister, you’re made of sterner stuff than I). Was the architectural salvage store here? That I might visit!